Third Annual All-Star Tasting a Success

NBA Legend John Starks, New York Liberty guard/forward Essence Carson and VIP Chef Roblé at the All-Star Tasting

Last week, the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids hosted our third annual All-Star Tasting in New York City, presented by PepsiCo. Celebrity chefs and all-star athletes came together for a night of food and fun in support of our important work.

More than 200 attendees joined us and our special athlete guests, including NBA legend John Starks; New York Giants offensive guard Geoff Schwartz; New York Jets linebacker DeMario Davis; New York Liberty head coach and NBA All-Star Bill Laimbeer; New York Liberty guard Cappie Pondexter; New York Liberty guard/forward Essence Carson; and New York Red Bulls defender Kosuke Kimura. All-Star chefs included VIP chef Roblé Ali, Chef/Owner of Roblé & Co. Catering; Chef Kyung Up Lim, Executive Chef of Michael’s Restaurant; Chef Carlos Laguno, Executive Chef of Les Halles and more.

Attendees sampled food from seven different tasting stations, and VIP guests attended a special demonstration lead by Roblé. Event attendees also caught a special athlete pizza-making competition, hosted by John Starks and his restaurant, Custom Fuel Pizza.

The evening was a success: nearly $100,000 was raised for our mission to reduce teen substance abuse and support families impacted by addiction. More photos from the event, taken by photographer Josh Wong are available on our Facebook page. We are grateful to all of our sponsors and supporters, and would like to thank all of the chefs, athletes and guests for helping to make our third All-Star Tasting a success.